Your credit is one of the most important criteria in determining your mortgage eligibility- it impacts the interest rate that will apply to you and, in a worst case scenario, could affect your ability to qualify at all.

Below are some Treats; ways to improve your credit score before you search for a home, and Tricks; things to avoid when qualifying for a home loan.

Treats: Ways to increase your credit score

Look for past due balances on a credit report and bring them current.

Reduce all outstanding debt to as close to zero as possible-try to keep credit balances at less than 50% of available credit.

If married, keep separate credit card accounts-this provides flexibility in transferring some or all balances to one spouse to increase the credit score of another, and allows one spouse to become the sole borrower if necessary.

Request an increase in available credit lines on credit cards to reduce debt ration-but only if the credit card company can do this without a hard credit inquiry.

Past due and charge offs-pay only those within the last two years. Once it is beyond two years, there will be no impact on your credit score if wiped out, and could even bring it down temporarily.

If you have an outstanding debt that has been incorrectly charged to you or has yet to be cleared, notify the creditor and credit bureau with a request that it be deleted. They have an obligation to act within 30 days.

Tricks: When applying for a loan-avoid these pitfalls at all costs!

Don’t buy or lease an auto-it will impact your debt to income ratio.

Don’t move assets from one bank account to another. It will show as a new deposit a need additional verification, complicating the application process.

Don’t change jobs-there may be a probationary period in which income from your new job cannot be considered.

Don’t buy new furniture or major appliances-this may increase the amount of debt you are responsible for on a monthly basis and could disqualify you from a loan or cut down on the available funds you will need at closing.

Don’t attempt to consolidate bills before speaking with your loan consultant. It may not be necessary to do this.

Don’t pack or ship important financial information needed for loan application-obtaining duplicate copies can take weeks and slow down the transaction.

Need help obtaining a credit report? Your loan consultant can help you with this, or you can get one, for free, from any of the 3 main credit reporting agencies:Equifax, Experian,TransUnion

Want to learn more? Click here for information on what goes into a credit score.

Secluded on 12 acres in Athens, Georgia, this country estate features a stone-clad main house with porte cochere, pool and five-car garage. Inside, rustic wood beams accent the ceilings, and oversize windows allow light to flood in. The layout includes six bedrooms and six baths. Deco-inspired black-and white tile floors and free-standing bathtubs complement the traditional look. The master bath centerpiece is the large walk-in shower with an enclosure of glass panes offset by black mullions.

Architect Cliff May, renowned for his casual California Ranch style, designed this 14,000-square-foot home set on four acres in Rolling Hills, California. Views of Los Angeles and the Pacific Ocean can be seen from the stone deck and indoor pool with retractable roof. Cathedral ceilings with wood beams lend structure to the free-flowing plan, which contains seven bedrooms, seven baths and three powder rooms. As part of a remodeling in 2010, the baths were finished in white marble and travertine.

Bathed in warm terracotta tones and ensconced in lush vegetation, this 10-bedroom, 10-bath remodeled farmhouse in the Yucatán town of Izamal, Mexico, is rich in history. The building dates to the early 19th century. In 2002 the town joined the Pueblos Mágicos program to preserve both its Mayan and colonial cultures. Hand-plastered walls, soaring ceilings and hand-hewn woodwork are present throughout. The baths are distinguished by natural rock walls and tall French doors with ornately carved wood shutters.

Commanding hilltop views and surrounded by mature tropical vegetation, this eight-bedroom, seven-bath adobe home in Rancho Santa Fe, California, is rich in history. The structure was originally a 1900 mission building transported to its current location for Hollywood starlet Corinne Griffith. The residence retains numerous original features, including handcrafted wood shutters, distinctive “latillas and vigas” (sticks and beams), ceilings and stained-glass skylights. Amenities include seven fireplaces and baths with brightly-colored Talavera-style painted sinks bathtubs, old-fashioned skylights and ornately carved woodwork.

English arts and crafts meets American shingle style in this six-bedroom, seven-bath residence in New Canaan, Connecticut, designed by Wadia Associates. Finishes include five-inch, quarter-sawn, white-oak floors, leaded glass windows and fixtures by Waterworks. Twelve-foot ceilings grace the master suite. A master bath is warmed by radiant-heated marble floors. Additional amenities include a wine cellar, massage room, yoga studio and tennis courts. The elegant garden is scented by David Austin English roses, espaliered Asian pear trees and grape and kiwi vines.

Directly on a beach dotted with gigantic boulders, this five-bedroom, six-bath house on the island of Ko Samui in Thailand invites nature inside. Twenty-foot ceilings with swooping roofs animate the architecture. A glass wall in a bedroom abuts the pool to simulate an aquarium, while in the master bedroom, sliding doors open onto the sea. The deck features a media center and projector for outdoor screenings. Rock formations incorporated into the bath and the outdoor showers complement the organic theme.1

What home selling tips are the most important for sellers to know? We sought to answer this question when we surveyed 500 real estate agents about the importance of two dozen top home selling tips. Each tip was then ranked based on the survey responses and we used the first eight – those viewed as being “very important” by 80 percent of agents or more – to create this infographic, “Home Selling Tips Every Seller Should Know.”

Look below the infographic to find a complete list of the home seller tips included in the survey, and learn what agents thought about them. If you feel like this infographic is something your clients need to see, you can share it on your blog or website using the embed code found below it.

I stated in my last post that I was going to try to address the proposed One Year Moratorium on Tear Downs in Newton. On September 4th, Alderwoman Amy Sangiolo has made a motion on “behalf of concerned citizens requesting a one year moratorium on the demolition of single and two-famly homes.” The purpose of this moratorium is unclear. The problem has been defined as the following:

What’s Being Lost”

Integrity and Character of Existing Neighborhoods

Moderately Priced houses–less than $800,000

Historic Houses

Mature tree canopy and neighborhood green space

Socio-economic and generational diversity

What’s Replacing It:

Houses out of character and scale with neighborhood context

McMansions Out of Character

Snout Houses

Linguine Houses

Added Density

Physical and Fiscal Impacts on Infrastructure

I have a lot to say about this and I’m not sure where to begin. First off I believe we have a zoning problem not a building problem. If you want to curb McMansions than limit the size of a house based on the lot size. That’s easy, we have made it a problem because of special permits and variances. I have to laugh at the moderately priced homes under $800,000 comment. Who are we kidding, there are NO moderately priced homes in Newton. There is not one home listed under $450,000 and the Massachusetts average is $322,000. The average price of a home for sale in Newton is currently over 1 million dollars. Snout houses for those who don’t know are houses with the garages added onto the front of a home. I have absolutely no idea what a linguini house is. Snout houses are ugly for sure, but people buy them because they want a garage.

Added density and socio economic/ generational diversity go hand in hand. You cannot have it both ways. The only way to increase the inventory of lower priced homes is to build townhouses and multi-families and apartments. But the neighbors don’t like that so they go down to the special permit hearings or Historic Committee hearings and fight for the status quo. Has there ever been a time in history where people say we love change? Our leaders must have the confidence to stand up to these people and do what is right for everyone. I had a neighbor that added a huge addition and I hated it, but I got over it. The land is too expensive for a developer to build a small house. It just doesn’t work that way. Newton has a significant number of homes in Waban, Newton Centre, West Newton Hill, Chestnut Hill, Auburndale and the Highlands that were built in the late 19th century and the early 20th century that are basically historic McMansion’s. I am sure that many people thought these homes were ugly and out of character 100 years ago. So many of Newton’s “moderately priced hosing stock” consists of smaller Colonials on the north side of town and splits and ranches on the south side. These homes have become functionally obsolete. Today’s buyers want an open concept first floor — period. They don’t want a family room and a living room and a sun-room and a dining room separated by walls. They want an open concept kitchen/ family room and a dining room that can also serve as an office. So the floor plan of yesterday no longer works. In expensive homes those buyers want the same thing on a larger scale. They may have the unused living room set up with a pool table. Younger buyers want to have fun in their homes. They want to play pool or ping-pong and watch movies in their media rooms. And who are we to judge what people want. Builders MUST build what a buyer wants to buy. It costs more money to renovate than rebuild. Which brings me to the possibility of a design review process. Wellesley currently does this and now Wellesley has big houses that all look the same. We are not a socialist country and we cannot legislate taste. I sell real estate, what one person hates another loves. It’s a zoning issue.

One of the things I really liked about Newton was its diversity and sadly that is disappearing. But isn’t it the Alderman who approved the building of The Street? My God the average upper middle class person with two kids can’t really afford to shop in most of the stores. The movie theatre costs twice as much as a normal theatre. The restaurants are not a place where the average homeowner goes for a bite. You can’t have it both ways. You can’t say we want generation and socio-economic diversity and build an outdoor mall that most of your citizens can’t afford to shop and NONE of the lower-income people can even dream about shopping at. It’s like the affordable housing units in luxury building in Manhattan where the affordable people have a separate entrance.

I think some of the Alderman complaining are responsible for the current state. The process is unfair. You can’t approve some changes and then say, oh we approved too many and the neighborhood is changing so now we have to put the brakes on. The Historic Committee and the Building Department and the Alderman each have a few members with a chip on their shoulders. Their minds are made up before they even hear the findings.

Like it or not the horse is out of the barn. Newton is not affordable and I don’t see how we make it affordable unless we make some zoning changes. We can approve multi families and townhouses on busier streets close to the town centers. Builders need incentive to build here. If we arbitrarily have a moratorium builders will go somewhere else because it will become untenable to do conduct business here. Let’s hope for a thoughtful process that can meet the needs of most of the residents of Newton.

Today we are excited to have Morgan Tranquist as our guest blogger. Morgan is the Marketing & Graphics Director for The KCM Crew and provides insight into what the Millennial Generation needs to hear from their agents. – The KCM Crew

At Keeping Current Matters, we have often broken down the opportunity that exists now for Millennials who are willing and able to purchase a home NOW… Here are a couple other ways to look at the cost of waiting.

But you’re busy, you like your apartment, moving is such a hassle…You decide to wait till the end of next year to buy and all of a sudden, you’re 31, that same house is $270,000, at 5.3%. Your new payment per month is $1,499.32.

The difference in payment is $288.42 PER MONTH!

That’s basically like taking a $10 bill and tossing it out the window EVERY DAY!

Or you could look at it this way:

That’s your morning coffee everyday on the way to work (average $2) with $11 left for lunch!

There goes Friday Sushi Night! ($72 x 4)

Stressed Out? How about 3 deep tissue massages with tip!

Need a new car? You could get a brand new $20,000 car for $288.00 per month.

Let’s look at that number annually! Over the course of your new mortgage at 5.3%, your annual additional cost would be $3,461.04!

Had your eye on a vacation in the Caribbean? How about a 2-week trip through Europe? Or maybe your new house could really use a deck for entertaining. We could come up with 100’s of ways to spend $3,461, and we’re sure you could too!

Over the course of your 30 year loan, now at age 61, hopefully you are ready to retire soon, you would have spent an additional $103,831, all because when you were 30 you thought moving in 2014 was such a hassle or loved your apartment too much to leave yet.

Or maybe there wasn’t an agent out there who educated you on the true cost of waiting a year. Maybe they thought you wouldn’t be ready, but if they showed you that you could save $103,831, you’d at least listen to what they had to say.

They say hindsight is 20/20, we’d like to think that 30 years from now when you are 60, looking back, you would say to buy now…

The words “exciting” and “suburb” are generally never uttered in the same breath. In fact, if you look at pop culture–particularly coming out of the 1980s–suburbs are set up to play the proverbial second fiddle to their bigger brethren. They’re shining beacons of the boring life, where the biggest thrills include mowing lawns on the weekend and picking the kids up from school on time.

Only that’s totally untrue.

After ranking the country’s most exciting cities — big and small — last year, we at the Movoto Real Estate Blog decided to start 2014 off by turning the preconceived notion that suburbs are boring on its ear. So, we applied the same Big Deal List formula responsible for rocketing places like Oakland, CA and Hoboken, NJ into the spotlight to the nation’s largest suburban cities. What did we find? Cambridge, MA is unquestionably America’s most happening ‘burb.

It wasn’t alone; we ended up ranking nearly 140 suburbs on numerous excitement factors, and 10 emerged as the absolute thrilling-est of the bunch. These are America’s Most Exciting Suburbs:

Bravo to the Boston, MA area–not only did the historic city appear on our ranking of the most exciting big cities last year at No. 2 overall, but now two of its suburbs, Cambridge and Quincy, top this list. They inched out Berkeley, a suburb of Oakland, our most exciting big city and one of three California ‘burbs in this top 10.

How did we figure all this out, and what exactly constitutes “exciting” in our book? If you’ll keep reading, we’ll explain all that and more. We promise it’ll be exciting.

How We Found America’s Most Exciting Suburbs

For most people, math’s not very exciting. Yet math is the means by which we ranked the most exciting suburbs. Lots and lots of numbers went into the process, but it all started with 139: the number suburbs we looked at. These are the largest suburbs of the 50 largest cities in the nation.

The next number of importance was six: the number of criteria we used to determine how exciting a suburb is. We applied the same criteria to this ranking as we did for our two previous Most Exciting Cities rankings:

Each suburb was ranked from 1 to 139 across all these criterion, with one being the best possible score (like in golf). This was accomplished by looking at business listings for each city and U.S Census data—not, unfortunately, dining and dancing the night away in person. Once we’d done that, we averaged the individual criterion scores to produce an overall Big Deal Score, which was used to determine the final ranking (the lower the score the better in this case, too).

The cities which you’re about to read about below had the 10 lowest scores, but we went ahead and included stats on how the top 50 ranked across the board at the bottom of this post. That way, if your idea of “exciting” is spending a Friday night arguing over minutiae, you can do that. For everyone else, here’s the big picture on what made our top 10 shoot past the rest of the pack:

1. Cambridge, MA

When most people think of Cambridge, they either a) picture classrooms full of students at Harvard and M.I.T. with their noses buried in books or b) say “Hey, isn’t that in England?” From now on, when we think of this Boston suburb, we’re going to think “excitement.”

True, a big part of Cambridge’s success in this ranking has to do with the fact that it’s home to not one, but two top-tier universities. Its population of 18- to 34-year-olds is, as a direct result, a whopping 49 percent, easily clinching a 1st place win for the city in this criterion by nearly 6 percentage points. Cambridge was also in the top 10 overall for active life options (third), live music (sixth), and nightlife (sixth).

Cambridge has one nightlife option for every 1,002 residents, and when they’re spots like The Druid and The Comedy Studio, that figure gets even more exciting. The city also ranked in the top 10 (10th, in fact) for its low percentage of fast food restaurants compared to all dining options (a mere 4 percent). This means your tastebuds will be subjected to fewer McDonalds and exposed to more A-grade eateries like Hungry Mother and Craigie On Main.

2. Quincy, MA

Excitement clearly runs in the Boston area family. Located not half an hour from our No. 1 most exciting suburb, Quincy is nevertheless far enough away that it has its own unique scene. It’s one that, for instance, relies much less on a young population to get the fun times rolling, as its 13 to 34 crowd makes up a (much) smaller 27 percent of its populace.

Despite the drop in our most exciting age group, there’s still plenty to keep the days and nights hopping in Quincy. It placed fifth overall in terms of active options with spots like Olindy’s standing out, and a respectable 25th for live music and nightlife. So, whether you want to belt out some questionably-in-key karaoke at Fuji 1546 or down a few pints at The Fours, you won’t be wanting for evening activities. Plus, any town that has a restaurant called The Fat Cat among its huge 96 percent of non-chain dining spots gets a thumbs up from this feline-friendly blogging crew.

3. Berkeley, CA

This suburb of Oakland is right in Movoto’s back yard, so we’re more than a little familiar with what it has to offer in the way of excitement. Before you start saying “But wait, guys, isn’t it just a bunch of mellow hippie types,” though, we’ve got to stop you. This East Bay gem has plenty to offer excitement seekers of all hair lengths.

Of course, with UC Berkeley in town, the 18 to 34 group is going to be plenty large; it sits at 43 percent, to be exact. Plus, with it being part of the notoriously health conscious Bay Area, a sixth place finish for active life options isn’t unexpected (there are parks and yoga places everywhere). What you might not be expecting, though, is that this seemingly laid back suburb has a lot of nightlife.

From bars such as Jupiter and the Albatross, to world-renowned venues like the Greek Theatre, it’s a fantastic town to hang out with friends after dark or take in an A-list act.

4. Miami Beach, FL

From the Bay Area, we head to the extreme opposite end of the country for our No. 4 most exciting suburb. Miami Beach is America’s suburban nightlife creme de la creme, ranking first overall in both live music and nightlife with one spot for every 304 people. If you’ve ever turned on TV to a reality show, though, you probably know this, as they’re seemingly always living it up in some South Beach hotspot like LIV or Mango’s.

Miami Beach is, as expected, also a bastion for daytime excitement, placing sixth overall for active life options. It’s adjacent to the aforementioned South Beach, with its myriad boating, biking, and outdoor activity offerings. It’s also a great town to be a foodie, having placed fourth overall in terms of unique dining options–the best in our top 10–with only 2 percent of its restaurants being chains. If you’re ready to take a break from fast food, you can’t go wrong at places like Yardbird (where you may think you’ve died and gone to fried chicken heaven) and Cuban food paradise Puerto Sagua.

5. Santa Monica, CA

We’re trading a beach city in Southern Florida for one in Southern California at our No. 6 spot. Part of the mega-sprawl that is Los Angeles county, Santa Monica is pretty much the quintessential SoCal beach community, and its excitement can be felt by anyone who’s ever stepped foot on the Santa Monica Pier or the Third Street Promenade.

It placed second overall for active options, including the pier, its adjoining beach, and thrilling activities like the Trapeze School New York. For as much fun in the sun as it has to offer, Santa Monica continues to shine after the sun has set. The city came in third overall for nightlife and live music, bolstered by places including The Room and Harvelle’s.

6. Lakewood, OH

Lakewood has been making quite a name for itself in the past few months, appearing on multiple rankings we’ve produced–including our Most Exciting Small Cities list. So, its appearance here comes as little surprise… even if it also made our list of best spots to retire. The young crowd is still strong in this Cleveland, OH suburb, however, making up 30 percent of the population and earning the city a 12th place finish for this criterion.

While the retirees snooze away, the youngins will play at places like West End Tavern. Residents of all ages benefit from exciting non-chain dining options such as Melt and Buckeye Beer Engine that make up the impressive 97 percent of restaurants in Lakewood that aren’t your average, mass-produced fare. The only area this city could have done much better in was active life options, where it placed 90th overall.

7. Jacksonville Beach, FL

Our next suburb sits not on a lake, but on a much larger body of water: the Atlantic Ocean. Yes, we’re back in Florida, but this time it’s near Jacksonville rather than Miami. With the geography sorted out, it should come as little surprise to readers of this ranking that Jacksonville Beach was second only to Miami Beach in terms of nightlife and live music on a per capita basis. We’re talking places like Lynch’s, Engine 15, and the Shim Sham Room.

Also of zero surprise was this suburb’s fourth place finish for active life options, from beaches to waterparks to golf. Where Miami Beach absolutely trounced this fellow Floridian destination, however, was in non-chain dining options. Jacksonville Beach came in 50th for this criteria with 9 percent of its restaurants chains. Still, that doesn’t mean residents looking for some exciting eating options are out of luck, what with the likes of Eleven South and Salt Life Food Shack in town.

8. Tempe, AZ

The second-youngest city in our top 10, a full 44 percent of the residents in this Phoenix, AZsuburb are between the ages of 18 and 34. That’s not bad for a state that many people associate with retirement (Florida bucked that trend on this ranking, too). You might also find it hard to believe that Tempe is a nightlife hotspot for similar reasons, but it is, placing ninth overall for clubs, live music, and associated after dark attractions like the Mill Cue Club and Big Bang, a dueling piano bar.

One area where Tempe shook its stereotype for the sort-of-worse was activity options, as it placed 22nd overall for those. It’s also note quite the daring dining destination of the other nine suburbs that comprise our top 10–in fact, at 59th overall for non-chain restaurant percentage, it’s the worst. Don’t tell that to people who swear by vegetarian delight Green or the Four Peaks Brewing Company ale house, though.

9. Santa Clara, CA

If you’d asked anyone in the Movoto office to guess the top 10 most exciting suburbs in the country, Santa Clara would honestly not have been in the running. This ranking isn’t about preconceived notions, though; it’s about what the data says and exposing the truth. The truth is, then, that this San Jose, CA suburb is exciting.

A big part of that is due to the considerable percentage of 18 to 34 residents (31 percent) and the fact that Santa Clara placed 20th out of 139 for nightlife. The number of karaoke joints like Arirang Music Studio are simply mind-boggling, too. Oh, and this city is also home to the California’s Great America theme park which, while perhaps not one of the country’s top-tier parks, is definitely a lot more exciting than most cities’ carnivals.

10. Evanston, IL

Google Earth

As Ol’ Blue Eyes used to croon, Chicago is a wonderful town. Evanston’s placing in our top 10 has us wondering “Evanston, Evanston, what an exciting town” wasn’t Sinatra’s second choice for lyrics. While the Chairman of the Board wouldn’t have sung the praises of Evanston’s 49th place finish for live music, at least he’d have enjoyed a dish at Dave’s, one of the town’s many non-chain restaurants (it ranked 23rd for those).

Oh, and Evanston has a group of 18- to 34-year-olds who make up 32 percent of its total population. We wonder how many of those wouldn’t know a tune by the Sultan of Swoon if we played it for them?

Can You Feel The Excitement?

We think we accomplished what we set out to do: show that suburbs are definitely more than meet the eye. They’re not all full of 40-somethings obsessed with youth soccer and typesetting the minutes for their neighborhood watch meetings. They’ve got lots of things to do—day or night. Especially Cambridge, MA, where any egghead from M.I.T. can tell you that “suburb” is just a word; Excitement is a way of life.

Want to talk about our ranking, or share what makes your hometown exciting? Let’s hear it in the comments below.